FRANKFURT, 6 August 2024: 21X – which has developed a trading venue for digital assets and is in the final stages of the license application to operate a DLT trading and settlement system (DLT TSS) under the European Union’s DLT regime – has today announced a strategic collaboration with Dfns, a digital asset wallet infrastructure and custody technology platform.
The collaboration will combine 21X’s expertise in developing a fully regulated DLT-based trading infrastructure with Dfns’ innovative digital asset wallet platform. Under the terms of the strategic partnership, Dfns will provide a fully-fledged solution for institutional clients and participants of 21X to manage and custody digital assets and tokenized financial instruments. This includes robust private key management, wallets-as-a-service (WaaS), authentication, identity and access management for users, transaction management for trading participants, and smart contract interaction capabilities for issuers. The advanced technology of Dfns can seamlessly interact with the smart contract based venue of 21X, offering participants and issuers unparalleled security and control over their digital assets.
21X will leverage Dfns’ technology to create a comprehensive ecosystem for digital assets, enabling issuers, brokers, and financial institutions to access its ESMA-regulated market infrastructure. The partnership aims to accelerate the adoption of digital assets by providing a secure and compliant platform for trading and settlement. WaaS is a cloud-based approach to providing multichain platforms such as 21X, with digital wallets to store and transact digital assets, especially for tokenized financial instruments and real-world assets (RWA). This strategic partnership will enable both issuers and participants to benefit from Dfns’ institutional-grade WaaS and custody solutions, while also providing access to 21X’s innovative trading venue.
Together, the two companies will create an integrated offering that enables the seamless onboarding, custody, tokenization, listing, trading, and settlement of digital assets. Dfns’ custody solution will be accessible to both participants and issuers on the 21X providing a user-friendly interface and simple backend integration via API for managing digital assets. By combining 21X’s DLT-based trading venue with Dfns’ advanced custody solution, the partnership will deliver a robust and secure platform that addresses the critical needs of institutional investors. This collaboration will enable the efficient issuance, trading, and settlement of tokenized securities, driving innovation and growth in the digital asset market.
Max Heinzle, CEO of 21X, said: “As our company works towards the go-live of 21X, the first ESMA (European Securities and Markets Authority) fully regulated exchange, we are developing best-in-class partnerships for the trading and settlement of digital assets. By combining 21X’s DLT-based trading venue with Dfns’ advanced custody solution, the partnership will deliver a robust and secure platform that addresses the critical needs of institutional customers.”
He concluded: “With a history of securing over $1 billion in transactions and creating 10 million wallets since 2020, Dfns is ideally positioned to support 21X’s mission of building a world-class digital asset trading platform.”
Clarisse Hagège, CEO at Dfns added: “We are thrilled to partner with 21X to bring our industry leading technology – including wallets-as-a-service (WaaS) – to a wider audience of investors and financial institutions. Our aim is to make digital assets widely adopted over the coming years, and we believe safe and user-friendly gateway enhancements are the missing piece to the next wave of mass adoption. As a leading digital asset custody platform for tokenized securities, this partnership will provide Dfns’ clients with direct access to 21X’ regulated market infrastructure.”
This partnership is another building block in 21X’s strategy to create an open ecosystem that enables compatibility with leading service providers in the digital asset space. By partnering with Dfns, 21X is demonstrating its commitment to providing a seamless user experience for its clients and driving the adoption of digital assets. The collaboration efforts between the two companies commences immediately and the fruits of the partnership will be realized at go live in the fourth quarter of 2024, coinciding with the launch of 21X.
About 21X
21X is a Frankfurt-based fintech, developing a blockchain-powered exchange for tokenized assets, which will operate under the regulatory supervision of the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).
With the institutional adoption of tokenized securities, 21X is ideally positioned to enable smart contract-based issuance, trading and settlement of tokenized stocks, bonds and funds. 21X has submitted its license application to operate a DLT trading and settlement system (DLT TSS) and is expected to be one of the first companies authorized to operate under the EU DLT regime.
See the short explainer video on 21X and our blockchain-based exchange here.
About Dfns
Dfns is a cybersecurity company providing crypto wallet infrastructure. We develop the leading Wallets-as-a-Service (WaaS) platform of the digital asset industry. Enterprises and financial institutions use Dfns to create, integrate and manage programmable wallets at scale, secured by state-of-the-art cryptography. Founded in August 2020 in Paris, Dfns is SOC 2 Type II certified firm employing 25 people across the EU and the US. ABN AMRO, Fidelity, Zodia Custody and many other financial organizations have created over 10 million wallets and secured over 1 billion dollars in transaction value with Dfns.
For more information, visit dfns.co
For more information on 21X, contact:
Richie MacTaggart, head of PR & marketing
Mob: +44 7828 173419
Mail: press@21.finance
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/21x
Web: https://www.21X.eu
For more information on Dfns, contact:
Christopher Grilhault des Fontaines, Co-CEO
Mobile: +1 646 491 1279
Email: chris@dfns.co